MORGANTOWN - The same team that bounced three 3-pointers in off the glass in the first half Tuesday missed two dunks in the second half. The same team that pulled a pair of freshmen off the bench for a spark before halftime didn't need either after the break. The same team that played its three biggest players 11 minutes in the first half used them for 11 in the second half and still outrebounded the opponent.
This is not a story about the two halves West Virginia played Tuesday night against Iowa State, though. This is about the seventh-ranked Mountaineers and what to expect from the second half of the Big 12 season.
In short, suspend your expectations. WVU (18-4, 6-3 Big 12) is quite good, and let an 85-72 win at Hilton Coliseum serve as the latest evidence Bob Huggins has his team positioned, but not yet primed, for the postseason. How the Mountaineers get there is anyone's guess, but it's clear they have ability to cause problems and clear obstacles.
Huggins tried just about everyone and everything in the first half, when the defense was poor and the scouting report seemingly forgotten, but the Mountaineers shot 54.5 percent and led by four points at halftime on the road against a team shooting 56.5 percent.
The offense cooled down to 40.7 percent after halftime, but the lead swelled to 16 points, the most Iowa State has trailed by at home this season. That doesn't happen to the Cyclones. Iowa State is one of four Division I teams that hasn't lost a game by 15 points or more since the start of the 2015 season.
Inevitability appeared nonetheless and wrapped its arms around the Cyclones, who missed 15 of their final 20 shots.
"I think we pretty much did what we set out to do," Huggins said.
How they did it was probably not planned. Huggins was percolating throughout the first half, peeved by the combination of uneven rulings by the officials and disinterested showings from his players. Unsure who he could trust, he went to a familiar ally: playing time.
"I wasn't happy with the effort of a couple of our guys," Huggins said. "Generally the best way to get effort out of guys is to sit them on the bench and let other guys go in."
Some vacated minutes went to freshmen guards Beetle Bolden and Chase Harler. Bolden, who had six DNPs and three points in the first eight Big 12 games, chipped in eight points in five minutes.
"I wanted to come in and do what the guys didn't do to make [Huggins] happy," Bolden said.
Neither Bolden nor Harler played after halftime, but neither was needed. They set an example, and Huggins had made his point. The Mountaineers enjoyed the benefits with most but not all of their regulars after halftime, when their small lineups countered Iowa State's.
"I thought we spent more time with them from a defensive standpoint in terms of preparing for who we were going to play," Huggins said. "I thought from a defensive standpoint those guys would be prepared to do a better job, and I thought they all played hard in the second half. I wasn't that upset with them."
WVU can do that. True, big leads come and go, and both tend to happen when a team plays the game this fast and with so many possessions. The offense and the defense can both dip, and sometimes all at once. The Mountaineers can shoot 85 percent at the free-throw line on one day and 52 percent on another.
But try to find a team that doesn't go through ruts. Pardon the Mountaineers for having four losses - two in overtime, none by more than four points.
WVU does get into trouble, but it seems WVU can get out of trouble, and you realize that means something as a three-game winning streak follows a two-game losing streak.
Huggins can flip out or flip a switch. He can sub out players and see results. He can have his team press or back off to reduce risks. He can be proud of the way the Mountaineers score in transition, but he can also watch his point guard commit a turnover on a fast break and simply instruct him to slow down, because WVU had no reservations running offense and no regard for Iowa State's interior defense.
In their fourth trip to the top 10 this season - and their third stop at No. 7 - the Mountaineers summoned a showing that validated their spot. And just in time, too. Tuesday's game ended the first half of the Big 12 season and started a tricky five-game stretch. WVU will have two more 9 p.m. tip times on the road and two more games against teams it has lost to this season.
In a place where only 10 of the past 85 opponents have won, where ranked teams had lost 18 of 23, the Mountaineers got off to a promising start.
"I feel like we've got to prove it to ourselves more than anyone else," guard Tarik Philip said. "We know what we're capable of. Every time we lose, it's on our end more than their end and them playing well."
Contact Mike Casazza at 304-319-1142 or mikec@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @mikecasazza and read his blog at http://blogs.wvgazettemail.com/wvu/.